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Monday, April 22, 2013

Review: Monsters University

Release Date: June 21, 2013

Running Time: About 110 minutes

Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi

Who to see it with: Any animation fanDavid:

Monsters U is Pixar’s prequel to the wonderful Monsters, Inc. This installment follows Mike Wazowski and Sully during their college years at Monsters University. The film is directed by Dan Scanlon and written by Robert L. Baird (who contributed content for Monsters, Inc). Being a prequel and coming twelve years after the original, I was worried that this film would not live up to the high expectations
set by the original. And while it doesn't quite reach its predecessor’s level, Monsters U is a charming, entertaining,
and worthy prequel that should not be missed.

The plot follows Sully and Mike’s antics during their college years. The story is well done with plenty of
references to the first film while also capturing some of what is great (and
not so great) about college. These college
references can at times

be cliche, but many of them are great and laugh out loud funny. The story also holds plenty of surprises. There were several moments when I thought the movie was becoming predictable only to have it take an unexpected and delightful turn. Along the way, you will meet a good cast of new characters and have plenty of cameos from your Monsters, Inc. favorites.

This is a Pixar film so the animation is gorgeous. Every movie of theirs
is more beautiful than the previous effort and Monsters U is no exception. Pixar does an amazing job of creating a
believable university environment with a monsters twist. Speaking of monsters, the animators clearly
put a great deal of effort into making the monsters more monstrous. The fur and slime effects are particularly
beautiful as is movement for the various types of legs, tentacles, wings, and
everything in between. They also managed to create some incredible depth
of field and stellar lighting effects. This lighting is especially
noticeable during “scare” scenes as it does a great job of setting the mood and
building tension.

As with the animation, sound and voice acting are excellent. Monsters University comes alive with the
sounds of a typical college—well a typical monster’s college. The sounds of class, of the quad, of parties,
and other aspects of college life help to bring you into this wonderfully
created world. The expected college
stereotypes—jocks, nerds, frat guys, etc.—are here and their voice acting is funny
and well delivered. Although you can
recognize some of the voice actors, they are not distracting and never pull you
out of the movie.

Monsters U is a very good movie. It's not better than the original, but that’s
expected when the source material is so good. However, Monsters U is a
fun, charming prequel that achieves what so many other prequels fail to do: tell
a meaningful, entertaining, and interesting tale while filling in the back-story of the characters and world that you love.